


Rhetorical Question

by enmity



Category: Tales of Series, Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Early-Game, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 13:29:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16682512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enmity/pseuds/enmity
Summary: Never mind; it would be silly of her to ask.





	Rhetorical Question

She’s back on her feet by the time Genis’ fireball finishes off the monster, dusting the dirt off her tunic in a way that feigns nonchalance, but isn’t really. Her heartrate quick-starts; her grip slackens around her staff as she feels the mana returning to her body in waves, and her energy with it. Just a second too late, and she would have fallen. 

The knowledge sits inside Raine like a stone as she stares at his back, the hard slant of his shoulders already turned to her, and she supposes it wouldn’t matter then whether her smile had been stiff, or apologetic; he hadn’t seen it anyhow.

In her peripheral vision she sees Genis and Lloyd running off to a corner to rest, dividing up their food with Colette. “Thank you.”

“You pushed yourself too hard,” Kratos says. One could think he sounded cold or unsympathetic, but in truth he spoke with the same matter-of-fact neutrality with which he addressed most things, and she could, logically, find no fault in that. “Try not to do that next time.”

“Yes,” Raine says absently, and pushes back her bangs almost like he would sometimes, after the battle had been won and his sword had been sheathed, and she can’t remember when it was that she started paying attention to such things. Should she? She closes her eyes. “I was careless.”

“Your job is to make sure everyone has enough strength to fight,” he starts, almost patiently. Almost as though she needed the reminder. “If you fall, there won’t be anyone to pick up the pieces.”

And she wants to ask, _what about you,_ because it was him who came to her aid, him with whom she'd shared the burden of keeping the children with them alive — wasn't that right? And: _is it bad of me to want to rely on you, just a little?_

She figures it would be a silly question to ask at the same time a part of her feels terribly guilty, and it’s not until much too late that she realizes why: she never wanted him to tell her the answer.

**Author's Note:**

> i did rely a lot on kratos during the early game areas + raine's insistence on attacking when she could be healing is a meme so i had this ditty in my head since day one. it's rough cuz idk the hang of these characters yet, i just know i love the ship LOL


End file.
